The house was unusually quiet that morning, so quiet she could hear the ticking of the wall clock echoing through the hallway. Dawn light slipped through the curtains, soft and pale, casting long shadows across her bedroom floor.
Her suitcase lay half-open on the bed, clothes folded neatly, though her hands shook every time she reached for another item. Everything felt too real. Too final.
She paused, staring at the old school uniform still hanging on the back of her door. Purple, ironed, hanges. She had worn it for three years. Three years that felt like both everything and nothing.
Three years she was now leaving behind.
With a low sigh, she folded the uniform and placed it gently at the bottom of the suitcase. She didn't need it anymore. She wouldn't be going back.
Her mother's voice broke the silence from the doorway.
"Rae, are you almost done?"
Rae nodded, forcing a small smile. "Yeah. Just… packing the last things."
Her mother stepped inside, eyes soft with worry. "You know you don't have to go if you're not ready."
But Rae shook her head. "I am."
The truth was, she didn't know if she was ready. But she knew she couldn't stay.
The last few months in her old school had been heavy—heavy enough to suffocate her. The whispers in her classroom after being made the subject of mockery. How it felt looking at her "best friend" laughing at the so-called "joke" and saying it felt funny. Remembering how the teacher turned a blind eye because she was deemed unimportant. Looking back on how it felt when the items of her bag were poured out on the floor when she stepped out for a minute. Looking at how a very precious handkerchief given to her by her dad—how it got stained with ink and became practically unwashable. How it felt when they remained unapologetic. How they'd always come to meet her when they had problems but cut her off when she did the same. Teachers who didn't bother to listen. Friends who drifted away when she needed them.
And the silence at home when her parents decided to move closer to her father's new job, making the transfer "easier."
Staring at the handkerchief
A fresh start, they had called it.
Rae wanted to believe that.
She zipped her suitcase and stood for a moment, looking around her half-empty room. The posters on her wall were gone. Her desk was bare — except for a broken pencil holder. The room felt like an already fading memory.
"Come downstairs when you're ready," her mother said softly. "We'll leave soon."
When Rae was alone again, she walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside. The street outside was remained quiet. A few kids in uniforms walked past, laughing as they headed to the school she would never see again.
A pang hit her chest—regret, relief,doubt, fear. She wasn't sure.
"New school, new people, new everything," she whispered to herself.
Maybe this time she wouldn't be misunderstood.
Maybe she wouldn't be invisible.
Maybe... Just maybe.
She could breathe again.
She grabbed her backpack,then she turned off the light and walked out.
The car ride was silent at first. Her father drove, eyes focused on the road while her mother kept glancing back at Rae through the rearview mirror.
"Are you nervous?" her mother finally asked.
Rae looked down at her hands. "A little."
"It's normal," her father said in his warm, steady voice. "Everyone gets nervous starting somewhere new. You'll adjust quickly."
She nodded but didn't answer.
Maybe leaving wasn't a mistake.
Maybe she was allowed to want better.
When the car finally braked in front of her new school, Rae felt her breath quicken. The building was taller, brighter, and alive with students. Laughter echoed through the gate. The energy felt… different.
Hopeful.
For the first time in months, she felt something flutter inside her.
Possibility.
Her father touched her shoulder. "You'll be fine. Really."
Rae inhaled deeply, nodded, and stepped out of the car.
The ground felt strange beneath her feet—like she was stepping into someone else's story.
Maybe she was.
Little did she know, this school would change everything—her trust, her heart, and the people she thought she could never live without.
But for now, all she knew was this:
It was her first day.
Her new beginning.
And the people who would soon pull her world apart…
didn't even know her name yet.